Plans for a new pumped storage scheme in Llanberis, Wales, have taken a major step forward with news that developers Quarry Battery Company (QBC), through subsidary Snowdonia Pumped Hydro (SPH), has received £3 million in funding from private investors for the scheme.
The finance will enable SPH to to strengthen its delivery team for the 600MWh Glyn Rhonwy pumped hydro site, and to design and carry out ground exploration works prior to negotiating with potential construction company partners.
The scheme has also received a further boost with the confirmation that it is eligible to bid for a 15 year contract to supply grid balancing services under the terms of the UK government's Electricity Market Reform Capacity Mechanism. Success in the auction, which is due to take place later this year, will enable the Glyn Rhonwy facility to earn a predictable annual top-up to revenues generated by trading in the market to supply National Grid with short-term balancing services.
SPH Parent QBC was granted planning permission for the Glyn Rhonwy scheme in late 2013 and formed SPH to take the project through to completion. The project is expected to take three years to build, employ as many as 300 construction workers at its peak, and create up to 30 full time local jobs once operational.
Ground investigations to prove the integrity of the slate geology under the site are now expected to begin in the spring of 2015. "We'll be looking at the ground where the upper and lower dams are planned, along the 1.5km length of the tunnelled connecting pipe that will run 50m or more below the surface, and at the intended location of the turbine house," explained QBC managing director, Dave Holmes. "Once we've completed this we will be shovel-ready, and able to invite contractors to tender for the construction phase. We are also working now to conclude negotiations with the District Network Operator over how underground cables will connect the site to the grid."
